Disclaimer: GRR! (Need I say more?)



Author's Note: First of all, I want to apologize for the mistake I made at the end of chapter 14; instead of writing the sentence, "She got out of her seat, knelt down, and put her arms around him", I accidently put, "She got out of her seat, knelt down, and put her arms around with". Sorry! Are we clear on this? Alrightly then, on with the fic!



Chapter Fifteen- Reunion



Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Emily waited in the Great Hall for what seemed like ages for any news on Harry. Had Professor Clark succeeded? What was going on?



Dumbledore had come back from a meeting with the teachers a while ago, and now was standing nearby the four. He looked distinctively worried, although he made it clear that he trusted the young woman.



Finally, Professor Clark entered the Great Hall. There were dark circles around her eyes, her steps came in stumbles, and she looked nothing short of exhausted. For a second, her head was bowed down so low that they all briefly feared the worst.



Slowly, she approached them, and with a small, weary smile on her face, she gave them the thumbs-up sign. The four breathed a sigh of relief. Harry was okay.



"He's up," they overheard Professor Clark whisper to Dumbledore. "but I'd like to speak to him, if you don't mind."



"Of course," Dumbledore nodded. "When you're done talking to him, you can send him to his friends. I'm sure they would like to speak to him also."



Professor Clark nodded. As she left, she winked at Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Emily.



"Maybe we shouldn't ask him what happened when we comes back," said Hermione.



"Yeah," agreed Ron. "It'd be a bad idea."



"What *do* you think happened?" asked Emily curiously.



Ron shrugged. "I don't know, and I don't think I want to know. Some things are just to weird to understand. Unless Harry wants to talk about it, we won't bring it up. Agreed?"



"Agreed," they all said.



***

Fiona entered her office, where Harry was sitting. He seemed to be doing better, but he still looked a little despondent.



She sat down next to him, not quite knowing what to say. Luckily, it was Harry who broke the silence. "So you were really Riddle's guardian angel once?" he asked.



"Yes," said Fiona nodding.



"Until he hurt you like that?"



She nodded again. "Yes... but somehow it doesn't really hurt that much anymore." This was true. Now that she shared the story of her past with Harry, it seemed like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. At long last, she had accepted the fact that it wasn't her fault, and that it was Tom's choice. She still missed Tom terribly, but Harry needed her now.



There was silence once more. "It's weird," said Harry. "Back in that- that place, I felt like giving up. That life just seemed meaningless and there was no point going on."



"You mustn't think like that," she said firmly. "After Tom left me, I thought like that too, that nothing mattered anymore, but I was wrong. My friends kept telling me that."



She grasped Harry's hand. "Quitting is never an option, Harry. You may not feel it right now, but you're a very strong person. You have been through tough situations before, and you've seen them through. So anytime you feel like giving up again, you just remember those situations... your childhood with the Dursleys, for example. It was hard, not having any friends, always being mistreated... but you survived, and you have friends now. If you could live most of your life with those people, then you can live through anything. You understand?"



Sighing deeply, Harry nodded. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Yeah, I understand. Thanks."



"Anytime." After a brief pause, she asked, "Are you ready to go back now? Your friends have been worried."



Harry nodded again.



"All right then. Come with me."



They both stood up, and she led Harry to the Great Hall. As soon as they saw him, his friends looked as though they saw a ghost. Fiona leaned close to Harry and whispered, "I'll see you later, okay?"



She patted his back and left. Harry will be alright, she thought, almost as though trying to reassure herself.



His friends would see to that.



***

Harry went over to where Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were and sat down. Emily was with them, looking deeply shaken. Harry wasn't sure what to say to any of them, and from the looks on their faces, they didn't know what to say to him either. They were cautious; it seemed they didn't know how he would react if they said anything.



"I am so sorry for the way I've acting this year," Harry spoke up.



"It's all right," they all said.



"I shouldn't have..." Harry started to say, but was interrupted by Ron.



"Forget it," he said. "We're glad you're okay."



"We're going to stay down here with Emily tonight," said Ginny, hastily changing the subject. "Dumbledore said it was okay, and you can stay, if you want."



"Sure," Harry leaned forward and asked them all, "What happened to Fudge after the survivors came?"



"He left," explained Hermione. "He didn't even bother to address the survivors. Took the dementors with him. Good riddance."



"Emily told us what happened," said Ron. "And Professor Clark chased away the dementors? Did you see what she wears to chase away?"



"Yeah," said Harry. "You are not going to believe this, but it was a cross."



They all stared at him. "Well, faith *is* a kind of positive thinking, after all," said Hermione thoughtfully.



"She's a great teacher," said Ron. For once, he didn't comment on Professor Clark-- Fiona's looks. "Right up there with Lupin. Shame she's leaving in a few days..."



"What?" Harry almost shouted.



"Don't you remember?" asked Hermione. "She said she was only staying for the year, or else she'd get terribly homesick... I do wonder where she is from anyway..."



Harry shrugged at this. In truth, he now knew where Fiona was from, but he wasn't going to tell them. She *did* say she was from "North"...



They got into their sleeping bags. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny (probably as the result of the dementors gone) were soon asleep, but Harry remained wide awake. He was still thinking about what had happened during the entire night....



He wasn't the only one--

"Harry," whispered Emily. "Are you still awake?" Her sleeping bag was the nearest to Harry's.



"Yeah," Harry said softly.

"What's going to happen to me now?" she asked, though she probably knew Harry wouldn't be the one to answer her. "It would easier losing our home at The Three Broomsticks with Joshua and Lili here with me, but they're..." She trailed off.



"How old were you when you lost your parents, Emily?" Harry asked, sitting up.



"I don't really know," she replied in a distant sounding voice. "It must have been ages ago because I don't really remember them. We have pictures of them, though...." She sat up. "Harry, this may seem like a silly question, but why do people have to die? It just seems like such a horrible thing. I know the world would be crowded if everybody could live forever, but still..."



Harry shook his head. "I dunno. But you're not alone. I can't remember my parents either. Before I got pictures of them in my first year of Hogwarts, I used to play guessing games of what their names were and what they looked like. The closest version of my mother's appearance was a woman with red hair and blue eyes...."



"I miss Joshua and Lili already," said Emily in a muffled voice.



Harry wished that there was anything he could say to Emily to make her feel better. But he knew that no words could ever do that. Instead, he just nodded sympathetically. If he had a brother or sister (and he would have given anything for one), he would have probably felt as awful as Emily did.



Emily buried her face in the covers of her sleeping bag and the sounds of crying could be heard. Harry put his arms around her, holding her close, just as Fiona did for him. He silently prayed that Emily would be placed someplace where she'd be happy.



After a while, Emily stopped crying, and Harry, letting go of her, said, "You'd better get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day."



Emily nodded. Lying back down, she piped up, "Harry?"



"Yeah?"



"Thanks for saving me."



"You're welcome."



Emily went to sleep, however, Harry remained awake for a few moments before doing the same, wondering what would happen tomorrow, and how he could ever say goodbye to Fiona when it was time for her to leave.



To be continued...



Sorry if this chapter was a little short after the long ones I've been writing lately. I hope you liked the chapter anyway; call me a softy, but I liked the conversation between Harry and Emily. There is possibly a chapter and an epilogue left of this story, so stay tuned, 'cause the story is almost over!